Humanist Counter-Theory in the Age of Misandry

Reclaim the Night – James Cook Univeristy style

Reclaim the Night (RTN) marches have been a feature of the feminist landscape since the 1970s. In the city of Townsville in Queensland, in recent years the attendances have been limited, mainly comprising the same core group of radical feminists, and generally the event passed with minimal interest or public acknowledgement.

This year the traditional event organisers, the Women’s Centre Townsville, were ready to cancel the event because new government funding arrangements require that they spend a specified part of their budget on helping clients directly rather than spreading feminist propaganda at government expense. The ball was passed to the hotbed of feminist dogma, the James Cook University Social Work Department. An organising committee of social work student’s feminist-fundamentalist indoctrinates took on the challenge with gusto. They established a Facebook page replete with many examples of man-hating, gender profiling, all men are rapists type rhetoric and gained a modest online following.

One of their first posts was a recycling of the “classic” stop rape poster, with 10 tips for men, including “don’t rape,” “if you are in a lift and a women gets in don’t rape her” and “when you see a women walking by herself leave her alone,” etc. It’s a sad but unsurprising reflection on James Cook University and their education of social workers that these students show so little understanding of basic human psychology, psychopathology, and behaviour. Just as it is little comfort to victims, that his type of rhetoric forms the core of their approach to the serious issues of sexual assault, which modern gender inclusive research shows affects both women and men in considerable numbers.

Amongst the posts on the page were those clearly advocating violence or sexual violence as a remedy for male rapists or potential rapists (but not female rapists who are not acknowledged as existing).

For example a quote from Billie Joe Armstrong encourages “Ladies, if someone touches you and you don’t want them to, feel free to punch them in the fucking face.” The idea of crushing the testicles of male rapists” was posted with the moderator asking for thoughts and getting several likes but no condemnation as a barbaric practice best left to its place in ancient history:

In early September a troll posted a rape threat against the organiser on their Facebook page, and later the organiser alleged that a threatening note was placed on the windshield of her car. The incidents were reported to the police and by the media and you can read about it in this PDF file.

Surprisingly, our police, who have an exceptional record with identifying cyber crimes including paedophile rings, grooming activity and hate attacks on sites such as Facebook, have yet to identify a culprit for this trolling. The personal distress of the young women targeted aside, these events were fortuitous in terms of publicity and raising the public profile of their site/cause.

I hope that whoever is responsible for threats against the JCU student organinsing the Reclaim The Night event in Townsville is identified and prosecuted.

Reclaim The Night and the discipline of social work are grounded in ideological feminist theory, which holds that all men are collectively responsible for the criminal actions of a tiny minority whilst minimising or denying that some women also perpetrate sexual abuse and rape.

It is claimed that we live in a rape culture where toxic masculinity encourages and condones the sexual assault. Males are by default rapists and must be taught not to rape.

The Townsville Reclaim the Night Facebook page infers that this scenario has become the “social norm.” I don’t see it that way, any incidents of sexual assault being widely condemned by men and women alike.

The event focuses only on men’s violence against women. Male victims and female victims of other women’s violence are excluded. Why in a society that promotes gender equality should any victim be less deserving of compassion?

The extent of sexual abuse of boys and young men in the military and religious institutions in Australia has recently been exposed. Prison rape where victims are predominantly male is laughed off as adding deterrent effect to imprisonment.

Reports of female care givers and teachers engaging in sexual acts with underage boys are increasingly common. In such cases social norms promote a view of the victim as lucky to be abused. Female perpetrators receive significantly lighter sentences than men. False accusations of sexual harassment or assault are an increasing problem that impedes the quest for justice for true victims.

The Secondary Students Survey of Sexual Health 2008 reported that among young people who experienced sex when they did not want to, one third were male.

Reclaim The Night’s anti-male rhetoric is in my view counterproductive to dealing with the very serious and non-gendered issues of violence and sexual assault. One post on their page promotes sexual violence as a remedy for sexual violence by canvassing the idea of crushing the testicles of male rapists.

Men of Townsville are apparently equal enough to attend the Reclaim The Night rally but women and children only are allowed to march. Perhaps there’s a message in that and it’s not one of inclusivity or equal compassion for victims regardless of gender.

Dr Greg Canning

Hermit Park

The Townsville Bulletin is to be commended for publishing the letter under the headline “RAPE HAS NO GENDER”:

Unlike the previous media coverage, my letter did not rate a mention on the Reclaim the Night Facebook page, but did without any comment lead them to remove the violence promoting posts mentioned above, as if that makes any real difference to the general demeanour of the page!

Certainly the same cannot be said following the news about an AVFM sticker appearing on the front door of the Spinifex Press office. Indeed the Reclaim the Night Facebook page posted about this on their wall, complete with the same image that appeared in the DailyLife story well before the story made the mainstream media and later shared the links to that story via a post on “Destroy the Joint.”

This is not surprising as the ties between Spinifex and JCU are close, Susan Hawthorne is a director of Spinifex Press, Adjunct Professor in the Writing Program at James Cook University, and was also a Perth SCUM Conference presenter and Radfem Hub Contributor. Betty McLellan has had a number of her works published by Spinifex.

What is surprising is that these posts have now been removed from the Reclaim the Night Facebook page.

The amount of hate mail I receive increased sharply after this exposure and along with the usual comments suggesting the world would be better of if I were dead or had my testicles removed, one inventive hater felt that everyone in local area should know that I was a “misogynist grunter” and by doing so she could see my business destroyed and me forced into poverty.

Although I missed the action, apparently there was quite a bit of anti-male hate expressed on the page in the aftermath of rally and march, with several complaints voiced by more well-intentioned followers. Although now deleted, some posts of apology remain in the “posts by others section.”

Cassie Chadc (an alias for Cassie Watter) who was one of the keynote speakers at the Reclaim The Night rally and according to her Facebook page is the owner of the Child Health and Development Centre, a “Multi-disciplinary allied health team” catering for children here in Townsville posted her views on me to the group.

Following the Regain the Night rally photos of the event were shared on Facebook. Watter shared an image of 2 men who attended the rally who were standing at the back listening, with the caption: “Please look at this photo. Do you know these men? If so, please let me know. If not, please share widely!!.,”

Given the rally was a public event to which men were invited I can only assume Watters motive is one of gender profiling; after all. was not the reason for the rally to have people listen? She did not respond to a private message asking her to explain her intent in sharing the image with that question, what she would do if able to identify the men, or why this particular image should be shared widely.

Personally I find the idea of having a gender ideologue such as Watter, with ties to the underbelly of the radical feminist hate movement, being responsible for young children, especially male children, very concerning. The number of such ideologues in areas such as health, welfare and teaching is growing, as is the anti-male bias in these areas and disconnect between the sexes generally.

Breaking the stranglehold of feminist influence in education in general and higher education in particular is a key aim of the growing men’s human rights movement, the importance of which is illustrated by events such as this and those regularly reported occurring in Canada, the USA and elsewhere.

Interestingly at the recent National Men’s Health Conference I had the opportunity to talk to many male social workers and several male and female psychologists who confirmed the entrenched anti-male sentiment experienced during their undergraduate studies in these disciplines, as well as the very low representation of males in these courses.

One social worker related an incident where another student, tired of his trying to give a male perspective in class, called out “you just don’t get it do you, we don’t fucking care about men”. The comment was applauded by the mostly female group and not questioned by the lecturer. A current mature age social work student needed to approach the department head to be reluctantly “allowed” to undertake a project on male victims of domestic violence, his proposal being rejected by the subject and course coordinators.

The New Male Studies courses starting next year will be a key driver of the process of injecting some gender inclusivity and unbiased academic rigor into Australian higher education around gender issues. Regrettably, bastions of radical feminism such as JCU Social Work are likely to remain impervious to inclusivity, evidence and common sense for many years to come.

Elsewhere on AVfM

The rape problem is so multifaceted, and getting people to even think hard about it is a constant problem.

Reality:

1) Women are far less likely to be sexually assaulted than the public generally believes although it still happens to them of course,

2) Men are far more likely to be sexually assaulted than the public generally believes, and

3) Women are far more likely to commit sexual assault than the public generally believes.

It is in taking advantage of this general ignorance by the public that hate groups like Take Back The Night succeed in their propaganda.

Sterling Archer

These feminists groups do not want discussion. They want discussion to be taboo. I see feminists say things like “if you say anything other then rape is horrible I will cut your tongue out.” These people do not care about rape victims unless it happens to be them. They care about their own victimhood.

gateman

Brilliant work Greg. I never thought it was so bad in Queensland and I’m shocked that these can get away with such hatemongering.

GQuan

I’m not. Feminism has spent decades spreading itself through educational, legal and political bodies, and from day one has been given leave to engage in the most disgraceful behaviours completely unbeholden to any logic, reason or ethical standard. Yet pointing this out remains an incredible chore, because people just don’t want to see it. Contrary to feminist assertions, there is little to nothing that can boast greater social power (and social impunity) than that which works in the interest of, and claims to speak up for, women.

These people are caught up in a distorted, hateful, miserable worldview and are using the vast amount of power they have to further the entrenchment and expansion of their ideology. To be honest, I’m surprised sometimes that it isn’t worse than it is.

“Those with a vested interest in perpetuating the pseudo-hypothesis that particular boy behaviors indicate neurological pathology (i.e. “ADHD,” “Conduct Disorder,” “Oppositional Defiance”etc…) simply refuse to take into account the role of evolutionary contingencies. We can no longer afford to ignore the role of natural selection as it relates to boy behaviors that have recently been classified as psychiatric disorders. Heightened activity, running, jumping, climbing, defiance, aggression, refusal to sit still, and the inability to be confined for hours within four walls are not indicators of psychiatric pathology, but are in fact remnants of our bioevolutionary heritage – remnants that cannot be eradicated (Wilson, 1993).
According to the constructs of evolutionary theory, males evolved in distinct ways because of the external pressures they faced in primitive environments (Santrock, 2005; Stolzer, 2008). E.O. Wilson (1993) has hypothesized that for 99.9% of our time on earth, young males roamed large areas, spent the majority of their time unrestricted by adults, and were continually immersed in the natural elements. The confinement of young males in institutions called schools – surrounded by concrete, artificial light, books, computers, and desks – is clearly not congruent with the human male’s evolutionary past. We can, if we so choose, refer to the defiance, fidgeting, boredom, and inability to remain seated that is rampant in schools across the country as symptoms of a psychiatric disorder, or we can look to the scientific record to explain these normal and adaptive response patterns that occur in restrictive and unnatural environments across all mammals.”

Vivica Liqueur

Amazing insight, makes absolute sense. I would go as far to say these systems are not congruent to any human being. I’m loving how we are on the brink of major social changes with these discoveries. Amazing how MHRM is pulling society out of the dark ages.

Yes New Male Studies is the journal, it high quality, international, from a male perspective, truly multidisciplinary and free!

The courses are being offered thought the University of South Australia
In association with the Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies (AIHMS) and commence next year a series of postgraduate certificates in 2014- Male Health in Perspective, Male Health Promotion, Being Male in Contemporary Society, Significant Male Life Transitions and proposed for 2015 Facts and Fallacies of Male Power and Privilege , Critical Analyses of Gender in Literature and Research, Elements of Male Psychology, Psychological Therapy with Males.

These will hopefully be combined into dip or masters level awards by coursework. Their is also support for those interested to undertake research degrees at Masters or Doctoral level. I must say its very exciting, and hope to be involved.

How can such a politically power group be so effing ignorant? I mean borderline imbecile ignorant.

“If you stop to help a woman with a broken down car, remember not to rape her.

Jesus H. Christ on a cracker. How do they even take themselves seriously?

GQuan

As always, it’s designed (unconsciously, I assume, but then so many political and ideological techniques are applied with little conscious recognition) to encourage the idea that rape is an endemic and normalized behaviour within our cultures, and that through some combination of socialization and inherent moral flaw men are unable to recognise the immorality of assault and violation unless they’re reminded (or remind themselves) through repetitive conscious efforts. Thus only a re-socialized man can be trusted to “remember” to correct his supposed impulse to force himself upon a woman.

DragonFire

I thought the worst was ‘carry a whistle in case you ‘by accident’, assault a woman’.

So, with that mindset from a woman who had read the poster, the most sensible thing a man could do is to keep driving… leave the woman stranded and wait for one of the ‘sisters’ to come by and help… Yet. most men would offer to help if they could… and with the best intentions… talk about cutting of their own noses to spite their faces…

And you can bet your ass that the first time something bad happens to a woman because no men would stop to help, then it will be men’s fault for leaven her stranded.

Great article, Greg. Thanks for posting.

HieronymusBraintree

Aren’t there studies which show that incompetent people are the ones who tend to think highest of their own work and that people who are generally accurate about themselves tend to be depressives? Thank you, God.

The problem is that people tend to be confident that they’re right when they FEEL they’re right. The stupider you are–either by natural ability or habit of mind–the fewer obstacles to high self esteem.

One thing about feminists that has always struck me is that, for a bunch of people who claim they are being crushed by society, they really do seem to have surprisingly bodacious egos, no?

Fredrik

I’m going to address four aspects of the phenomenon in an intellectual way, since I find it interesting.

First, a third of people are irrationally optimistic, and feel like they have more control than they do. On the other hand, since the free market is brutal and you might have to try about ten times to succeed, those are the entrepreneurs and salespeople that eventually succeed.

Second, a tenth of people are irrationally pessimistic, to the point of unwarranted helplessness. This does not appear to have any direct advantage to themselves.

Third, pessimistic people are more likely to be depressed, but also accurate. Reality sucks, and so when you’re figuring out how to solve a problem, it’s useful to have them around for the trouble-shooting phase where you blow holes in your ideas; but you might want to keep them far away from the brainstorming phases.

Finally, as a philosophical matter, people are only viscerally aware of the unknown that presses around the boundary of what they know, like some kind of misshapen amoeba. Everything beyond that point is just incomprehensible and dismissible. I believe that this is the true value of a well-rounded education: to grow your amoeba of the known in a regular way, so that there are no areas where you think you know it all (from not knowing enough to know any better).

Shrek6

Dr. T, that is why women who break down on the side of the road today here in Australia, are often left there by most men. Men are too afraid of what may happen, so they just drive on by and the female is left there regardless of whether it is day or night, sunshine or rain.

And they have absolutely no reason to complain, because they deserve what they now get.

Yes, I do agree it is wrong. We men should be able to stop and help out, but how can we, when we are looked upon as rapists. Women do not deserve to be assisted. If the women in the general public stood up and fought this evil and overturned it, I would be one of the first to pull over and help out.

Just so you know I am not heartless. I drove home to my country town 2 years ago and came across this young women stopped on the side of the road with her car bonnet up steam coming from the front and looking desperate. So I pulled over. As I walked up to the car, she backed away. I almost turned around and walked away. Anyway, I got the radiator cap off, checked the water level and saw that her pump was leaking. I put the cap back on halfway to stop pressure build up and told her to drive slowly the 10 kilometres back to the town we passed through and to phone her family to come get her. I told her to not stay here on the side of the road.

I got little appreciation from her, just a short thanks. But she was scared stiff I was going to rape her. I was almost ready to have a go at her for being such a ……… , but decided that because she was young and brainwashed by society, it wasn’t her fault totally.

I will make sure my daughter knows how to get herself going if she breaks down, or what to do in an emergency. At the end of the day, you can never be totally safe no matter where you go or who you are.

FrayedLace

Clone Greg Canning now.

Vivica Liqueur

Just went to their page it was really appalling! The basis is the age old men are dangerous story and ‘male entitlement’?? Oh god, this is so backwards, I just can’t.

John Narayan

Radical feminism your taxes at work!

It’s not the level of crazy that is the issue, it’s the fact that 98% of the population ignore it.

It’s not happing to my son so it does not matter.

Alessandro

These sick feminists deserve only one kind of public support: psychiatrical help

John Narayan

You to kind!

Bewildered

It’s not the level of crazy that is the issue, it’s the fact that 98% of the population ignore it.

BINGO ! Unless this is set right there won’t be any significant progress and the ‘beast’ will never be killed.

A stellar circumnavigation of the event and of the shady characters involved. This one is going to stand as a historical reference article about RTN and associated orgs and individuals – it will be accessed for years to come.

I appreciate Mr. Canning’s hard work that went into crafting this expose.

gwallan

The “Destroy the Joint” graphic demonstrates an extraordinary contempt and derision for male victims of sexual assault on no basis other than their being male.

Among the comments I notice…

“Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre Thanks Destroy the Joint for so effectively illustrating the disconnect between reality and some men’s take on the issue.
4 October at 12:13 · Like · 5”

The LCCLC have their office across the street from mine. They will be getting a visit this coming Monday. Their board of management will be receiving correspondence. I will be asking that they disassociate themselves and do so quickly. I’m in roles representing victims in the Loddon Campaspe region. I can’t conceive of referring a male victim to their legal service should that victim need legal help.

How about I just avoid women altogether, seeing as apparently all I am is a potential rapist, unable to help myself?

I want to rewrite a few of these:

1) Don’t drink socially with women.
2) When you see a woman walking by herself, cross the street to avoid her.
3) Don’t ever pull over to help a woman who has broken down.
4) If you are in a lift (elevator) and a woman gets in, leave the lift.
5) Avoid women at all costs.
6) Use the buddy system! If you have to associate with women, make sure you have a witness, in case you are falsely accused of rape.
7) Don’t forget! It’s not sex with a woman who changes her mind afterwards, it’s RAPE!
8) Carry a voice recorder. If you are worried about being falsely accused of rape, you can turn it on and you MIGHT have a chance in a court of law.
9) Don’t forget, sex with a woman becomes rape when she says it becomes rape. This can be at any point before or after the sex act. You will value her honesty when she tells you this.
10) Don’t associate with women, ever, for your own safety.

Feminism – not divisive or hateful at all.

Daniel Kulkarni

As someone who’s recently decided to avoid most women myself, this made me laugh. It’s sad that things have gotten this bad.

Jay

Bravo Dr Greg, for having the courage to stand up to these bullies. I’d be happy to put the mortgage that the JCU complaining about a rape threat, was similar to that girl in America who made it up and was charged. She just made the whole thing up to garner sympathy and support for the misandrist campaign.

John Narayan

Seems to me feminist – well any – victimhood is more addictive then crack, a dunny seat made out of thorns, razor wire, napalm or feminist texts, full of gangrene, maggots, a familiar comfortable, tax payer funded gulag of crazy house of mirrors, a woppie cousin that spills the blood of men…

I often invite feminists here in person (as in a face to face invite/introduction) but I recommend they leave the crack at the door.

Robert St. Estephe

The term “inclusivity” prompts me to consider whether expecting inclusion is the wrong way of framing the question of overcoming male issues exclusion. Civil rights equality requires the 49% population share (male share) to be served and represented. We demand parity with “women’s issues” service and representation. And the representation of heterosexual male issues in relation to non-heterosexual should be appropriate as well. In other words, vague “inclusion” (gradual, incremental, with permission, with invitation)into a pre-existing structure is not the same as a requirement for a simple clear-cut proportional share that is absolutely required to be met. No invitation is needed. This is a demand.

When? How about: “Get it done immediately.”

Bightwicke

Billy Joe Armstrong seems to support a ‘fight fire with fire’ style approach. His quote is “Ladies, if someone touches you and you don’t want them to, feel free to punch them in the fucking face.” I wonder how good he likes the sound of the exact inverse of his statement: “Gentlemen, if someone punches you in the face and you don’t want them to, feel free to fucking touch them.”

Maleman

Isn’t it incredible that open misandry and hatred can be thought of as ‘helpful’ to your business? This kind of feminism will one day be seen in the same light as the worst aspects of the slave trade. And when that day comes I am sure feminists will try and rewrite history. Thank you Dr Canning. The importance of documenting these incidents cannot be understated. Thanks to people like you and everyone here the truth will prevail. I too am very excited about the Male Studies Programme and also hope to become involved. I was in Townsville a couple of weeks ago so this story seems very close to home but I still missed the whole shebang. Thankfully you didn’t.

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